Viktor Holý

Viktor Holý (28 May 1903-25 March 1946) was a Czechoslovak fascist who collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II. Holý marshalled up support for the Axis Powers during the Annexation of Czechoslovakia in 1939 and was labelled a traitor by his own people after the end of the war and executed.

Biography
Holý was born on 28 May 1903 in Benesov, Austria-Hungary (located in the present-day Czech Republic) to a family of Catholic Czechs. He edited an anti-Semitic newspaper in Prague, which was around 15 miles north of Benesov, after Czechoslovakia won its independence in World War I, and he was enthralled with the ideas of fascism. Holý was jubilant when Germany annexed Czechoslovakia in 1939, and he was installed as the Reich Minister for Czech Integration that same year with the goal of garnering the support of the Czech population for Nazi Germany. Holý survived three assassination attempts by the Czechoslovak Resistance during World War II, and he made speeches on the power of a united Czech and German state that could rival the former Holy Roman Empire. Holý was key to the German propaganda in the country, but he became useless as the resistance assassinated Reinhard Heydrich and began to turn the opinion of the people against the government. On 13 November 1943 Holý fled in exile to the United Kingdom, where he was arrested. In 1946, he was turned over to the communist government of Czechoslovakia for trial; accused of treason, war crimes against Jews in the country, and supporting wars of aggression, he was executed by firing squad on 25 March 1946 in Prague.